White and Coloured Marbles of the Roman Town of Urbs Salvia (Urbisaglia,Macerata, Marche,Italy)

The results of an archaeometric study concerning the coloured stones and 14 white marble sculptures found in the ancient city of Urbs Salvia (Urbisaglia, Macerata) – one of the main Roman archaeological sites of the Marche region (east central Italy) – are presented here. Data show the presence of the most important decorative stones used by the Romans, originating in all of the Mediterranean provinces, from Egypt and North Africa to Asia Minor, Greece, Gallia, Iberia and Italy. Thirty‐one different coloured lithotypes have been identified, including red and green porphyries as well as marmor phrygium and numidicum, namely the four most expensive stones cited in Diocletian's edict. Crustae of marmor chium, taenarium, chalcidicum, scyreticum, lucullaeum and sagarium also feature. Another significant presence is that of coloured stones that are generally rare, even in Rome and Ostia, such as cipollino mandolato (which is very abundant at Urbs Salvia, more than anywhere outside Gallia), broccatello di Spagna, alabastro a pecorella, lapis ophytes, brecciated facies of marmor iassene and cottanello antico. Worthy of mention, too, is the abundant presence of so‐called Roman breccia from Lez (Upper Garonne valley, French Pyrenees), a stone never reported outside Gallia. The 14 marble sculptures analysed come from public and private buildings of the Roman city and are now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Urbisaglia. Our petrographic and isotopic analyses show that they are made of Lunense (five), Pentelic (three), Parian lychnites (three), Thasian (three) and Proconnesian (one Corinthian capital) marbles. The quality of the coloured stones identified, together with the presence of sculptures made of precious imported white marble varieties, reveals an opulent town and a local patronage wishing to decorate public buildings and rich houses with the most sought‐after marbles of Rome.     

A rare,late Paleocene molluscan faunule from the Kings Park Formation,Perth Basin,Western Australia

A shallow marine faunule of eight taxa from the Kings Park Formation of the Perth Basin is the first described Paleocene molluscan assemblage from Western Australia. These species are part of a depauperate suite of macroinvertebrates (molluscs, echinoids and corals) derived from deep, onshore caissons in Perth and are inferred to be late Paleocene in age, based on planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and associated age ranges of the molluscan fauna. Bivalves are Sarepta austranaxa sp. nov. (Sareptidae), Solemya kingsparki sp. nov. (Solemyidae), Periploma vivarirex sp. nov. (Periplomatidae), Parvamussium sp. nov.? (Propeamussiidae), Serripecten? sp. (Pectinidae) and Venericardia (Rotundicardia) petraea Darragh (Carditidae). Gastropods are Levifusus? sp. cf. L.? quadrifunifer Darragh (Buccinidae), and Columbarium rumatoides Darragh (Turbinellidae). Bivalves dominate the fauna in dark, glauconitic siltstone and sandstone facies; gastropods are of relatively poor preservation and low diversity.     

Planting Islands: Marshall Islanders Shaping Land,Power, and History

This paper reframes encounters between ri-aelōñ-kein (Marshall Islanders) and ri-pālle (outsiders) between the 16th and 19th centuries through a ri-aelōñ-kein cultural lens. It applies a deep ethnographic approach and frameworks of cross-cultural exchange and mutual possession to re-present ri-aelōñ-kein engagements across the beach as purposeful attempts to ‘plant’ ri-pālle on land and within genealogies. It argues that, in addition to violence, ri-aelōñ-kein used ‘gifts’ of land and other exchanges to ‘plant’ ri-pālle within their realms and, in turn, augment their social status. While deployed most often by irooj (chiefs), kajoor (commoner) men and women used similar tactics with some success. Throughout, ri-aelōñ-kein made history by deploying aspects of culture to advance local ambitions through engagements with ri-pālle.     

The genera Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae,Caenogastropoda) in the Early Jurassic of Patagonia,Argentina

Ferrari, S.M., September 2012. The genera Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae, Caenogastropoda) in the Early Jurassic of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 36, 325–339. ISSN 0311-5518.

New species of Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae, Caenogastropoda) are reported from the Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian–Toarcian) marine deposits of west-central Chubut province, Argentinean Patagonia. Three new species are described: Cryptaulax redelii, Procerithium (Rhabdocolpus) patagoniensis and Procerithium (Infacerithum) nodosum; and the diagnoses of Cryptaulax damboreneae Ferrari and Procerithium nulloi (Ferrari) are emended. The new fossils derive from the Mulanguiñeu and Osta Arena formations and expand the known diversity of the Procerithiidae, extending its palaeobioeographical distribution into the South American Jurassic.     

Early Silurian (Llandovery) trilobites from the Cotton Formation,near Forbes,New South Wales,Australia

A trilobite fauna from the upper part of the Cotton Formation (late Llandovery, Spirograptus turriculatus Zone) in central west New South Wales includes the new species Raphiophorus sandfordi, Odontopleura (Sinespinaspis) markhami and Aulacopleura pogsoni. Species of Odontopleura and Aulacopleura have not previously been documented in Australasia. The association of these genera is observed in offshore biofacies in the Llandovery/Wenlock on several palaeocontinents. Affinities of the species are with congeners from Bohemia and northwestern Canada (Odontopleura, Aulacopleura) and Tarim and South China (Aulacopleura, Raphiophorus).     

Piot,Personhood, Place and Mobility in Lihir,Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT This paper is an exploration of the nature of personhood through the medium of the concept of piot in the Lihir islands, Papua New Guinea. Piot is an embodied experience in response to the movement of others in space. When people leave or arrive at a place and spend the night, others in the area feel unwell. Piot is thus one aspect of the relations between persons. I suggest that ideas of relational personhood are inadequate to fully comprehend piot, and, following LiPuma (1998) and Clay (1986) rather than Strathern (1988), argue that persons in Lihir are more than just relational beings who always act with others in mind. Piot is predicated on the dual themes of fixed sociality and mobility that are important in Lihir as elsewhere in Melanesia (cf Eves 1998; Patterson 2002). Through piot, persons comment on and sanction the movement of others, yet this mobility still occurs.     

Mormon History,Text, Colour,and Rites

Mormonism's growth from its 1830 inception to its 2005 near twelve million world membership, has not only initiated a debate over whether, perhaps, it is likely to become the next world‐religion after Islam, ¹ 1 Stark, Rodney , “The Rise of a New World Faith,” Review of Religious Research 26 (1984 ): 18 – 27 .
but has, in recent decades, also witnessed the publication of numerous books that help foster an interest in what is already becoming a distinctive field of study. Though none of the four books reviewed here constitutes an introductory overview, ² 2 For which see, Thomas O'Dea, The Mormons (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957); Jan Shipps, The Story of a New Religious Tradition (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1985); Douglas J. Davies, Introduction to Mormonism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
each introduces a set of major issues within contemporary Mormon studies and engages, respectively, with faith‐related attitudes to historical material, the Book of Mormon, the changing status of black males in the church, and Freemasonry's impact on Mormonism's origin.     

Triassic plant fossils from Pollock Road,Southland, New Zealand

Pole. M. S., & Raine. J. I., 1994:03:28. Triassic plant fossils from Pollock Road, Southland. New Zealand. Alcheringa 18, 147–159. ISSN 0311-5518.

Sedimentary rocks of the Murihiku Supergroup considered to be latest Triassic (Rhaetian), crop out about 10 m below the Glenham Porphyry, near Glenham, New Zealand. They contain the vegetative macrofossils Marchantites sp. (Hepaticae), Pachydermophyllum praecordillerae (Frenguelli) Retallack and Pachydermophyllum benmorensis Anderson & Anderson (Peltaspermaceae), cf. Dicroidium dubium var. dubium Anderson & Anderson (Corystospermaceae), Desmiophyllum sp. cf. D. indicum Sahni (possible conifer), and Gingkophytopsis sp. (possible progymnosperm).

Reproductive material includes ovulate structures (Peltaspermum cournanei sp. nov.), pollenbearing structures (Antevsia sp.) and probably seeds of the Peltaspermaceae, ? Umkomasia (Corystospermaceae), and a possible progymnosperm microsporophyll.

The palynoflora is dominated by bisaccate gymnospermous pollen, mainly Alisporites spp., consistent with the presence of corystosperm macrofossils. Moderately common pollen of Cycadopites spp. may be of peltasperm origin.     

THE COLOURED TESSERAE DECORATING THE VAULTS OF THE FARAGOLA BALNEUM (ASCOLI SATRIANO,FOGGIA, SOUTHERN ITALY)

Twenty‐six tesserae (red, orange, yellow, light amber, green, blue and white) from the balneum of the villa at Faragola (Ascoli Satriano, Foggia) have been examined by colorimetry, ICP–MS, ICP–OES and SEM–EDS. Different types of calcareous sands have been used as the source of silica (network former), also providing the stabilizing agent. A natron‐type soda source served as the network modifier; however, the use of a sodium‐rich plant ash and the recycling process have been hypothesized for the production of two tesserae (FT 1 red and FT 3 orange). The colouring and opacifying agents were Cu oxide (cuprite, orange), metallic copper (red), Pb antimonates (yellow), Ca antimonates (white), a mixture of copper (Cu²⁺) and Pb antimonates (green), a mixture of cobalt (Co²⁺) or copper (Cu²⁺) and Ca antimonates (blue). The light amber tesserae should owe their colour to iron (Fe³⁺) alone or associated with sulphide (S^2?) and Ca antimonates. It is likely that the Faragola tesserae were locally produced in a secondary glass workshop.     

Devonian operculate corals (Calceolidae,Cnidaria) from the Massif Armoricain,France

Wright, A.J., Plusquellec, Y. &; Gourvennec, R., February 2016. Devonian operculate corals (Calceolidae, Cnidaria) from the Massif Armoricain, France. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The operculate coral Calceola gervillei Bayle, 1878 Bayle, E., 1878. Fossiles principaux des terrains de la France. Explication de la Carte Géologique de France 4(1), 1–158. [Google Scholar] is described for the first time on the basis of the type material from the Cotentin region of Normandy (North Armorican Domain), from Early Devonian (likely upper Lochkovian to lower Pragian) strata, and is chosen as the type species of the monotypic new genus Gerviphyllum. The new genus is also present in the l’Armorique Formation (lower Pragian) of the Plougastel Peninsula (Central Armorican Domain) as Gerviphyllum sp. cf. G. gervillei. One locality in the upper Emsian (Polygnathus serotinus Conodont Zone) Le Fret Formation, on the northern coast of the Crozon Peninsula, has yielded operculate coral specimens described here as ?Chakeola sp., the first (tentative) record of the genus outside eastern Australia, south China and Vietnam. The operculate coral Calceola collini sp. nov. is described from six localities in the early Middle Devonian (Eifelian: Polygnathus costatus Conodont Zone) Saint-Fiacre Formation of the Plougastel and Crozon Peninsulas (Central Armorican Domain), despite the fact that knowledge of the internal characters, especially of the operculum, of the type species Calceola sandalina is very limited. From an extensive review of published references to Calceola from France, we conclude that only the record of Collin (1929 Collin, L., 1929. Un nouveau gisement à calcéoles dans le Dévonien de la Presqu’île de Crozon (Finistère). Bulletin de la Société Géologique et Minéralogique de Bretagne 7(3/4), 201–208. [Google Scholar]) is valid.

Anthony Wright (tony.wright@optusnet.com.au), GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth &; Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia; Yves Plusquellec (yves.plusquellec@univ-brest.fr) and Rémy Gourvennec (remy.gourvennec@univ-brest.fr), Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS-UMR 6538 ‘Domaines océaniques’, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 6 avenue Le Gorgeu, CS 98837, F-29283, Brest, France. Received 1.10.2015; revised 8.12.2015; accepted 14.12.2015.     

Early Carboniferous brachiopod faunas from the Baoshan block,west Yunnan,southwest China

38 brachiopod species in 27 genera and subgenera are described from the Yudong Formation in the Shidian-Baoshan area, west Yunnan, southwest China. New taxa include two new subgenera: Unispirifer (Septimispirifer) and Brachythyrina (Longathyrina), and seven new species: Eomarginifera yunnanensis, Marginatia cylindrica, Unispirifer (Unispirifer) xiangshanensis, Unispirifer (Septimispirifer) wafangjieensis, Brachythyrina (Brachythyrina) transversa, Brachythyrina (Longathyrina) baoshanensis, and Girtyella wafangjieensis. Based on the described material and constraints from associated coral and conodont faunas, the age of the brachiopod fauna from the Yudon Formation is considered late Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous), with a possibility extending into earlyViséan.     

Cretaceous plant fossils of Pitt Island,the Chatham group,New Zealand

Pitt Island, a part of the Chathams Islands group, lies 700 km east of New Zealand. Its geology includes the Tupuangi Formation, dated as Motuan to Teratan (late Albian to Santonian) on the basis of palynology. Samples of Tupuangi Formation mudstone yielded leaf cuticle assemblages dominated by araucarian and podocarp conifers and locally by angiosperms. The 12 distinguishable conifer taxa include a new species of Araucaria, A. rangiauriaensis, and the extinct genera Eromangia, Kakahuia (both Podocarpaceae), Otwayia (Cheirolepidiaceae), Paahake (Taxodiaceae or Taxaceae) and possibly Katikia (Podocarpaceae). Ginkgo and two types of dicotyledonous angiosperm cuticle are present. Based on the absence of bennettitaleans and rarity of Ginkgo, a Turonian or slightly younger age is inferred, making the Pitt Island assemblage the first Turonian plant macrofossils documented from New Zealand. The fossils provide a window into southern high-latitude (polar) vegetation of the mid-Cretaceous. Conifer charcoal (probably of Podocarpaceae) is locally abundant and suggests that fire was an important part of the ecosystem. A broad analogy with modern boreal conifer-deciduous angiosperm forests is suggested although clearly with warmer temperatures.     

Didymograptellus kremastus n. sp., a new name for the Chewtonian (mid-Floian,Lower Ordovician) graptolite D. protobifidus sensu Benson & Keble, 1935, non Elles, 1933

Vandenberg, A.H.M., December 2017. Didymograptellus kremastus n. sp., a new name for the Chewtonian (mid-Floian, Lower Ordovician) graptolite D. protobifidus sensu, non. Alcheringa 42, 259–268. ISSN 0311-5518.

The ‘tuning-fork’ didymograptid previously referred to as Didymograpt(ell)us protobifidus is common in Victoria where it is confined to the Chewtonian (mid-Floian). Biometric differences indicate that the mid-Floian form is not conspecific with the holotype of the Darriwilian Didymograptus protobifidus Elles, 1933 and the Floian form is thus renamed Didymograptellus kremastus n. sp. Study of the Valhallfonna Formation faunas on Spitsbergen indicated that the Floian form of D. ‘protobifidus’ differs from Didymograptellus bifidus (Hall) in both its morphology and stratigraphic distribution but a later study of the Cow Head Group on Newfoundland concluded that they are one species. My study, of more than 50 specimens of Didymograptellus from the Floian of Victoria, Australia, shows that the two are different and that similar differences exist in the Cow Head Group populations of Didymograptellus. The Chewtonian (Ch1) Didymograptellus protobifidus Biozone is renamed D. kremastus Biozone.

Alfons H.M. Vandenberg, [lanceolatus@hotmail.vic.gov.au], [avandenberg@museum.vic.gov.au] Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne 3001, Victoria, Australia.     

Graptolite fauna of the Hungshihyen Formation (Early Ordovician), eastern Yunnan,China

Ordovician graptolite-bearing strata in eastern Yunnan were deposited in nearshore, shallow-water environments. Graptolites are systematically described from three sections through the Hungshihyen Formation in eastern Yunnan Province, China: (1) Hongshiya section near Ercun village, Kunming; (2) Liujiang section, Luquan; and (3) Guihuaqing Reservoir section, Luquan. The graptolite fauna, characterized by the predominance of deflexed forms, includes ten species in two genera: Baltograptus turgidus (Lee), B. varicosus (Wang), B. yunnanensis (Li), B. calidus (Ni), B. enshiensis (Ni), Baltograptus sp. cf. B. deflexus (Elles & Wood), Baltograptus sp. cf. B. bolivianus (Finney & Branisa), Baltograptus sp. A, Baltograptus sp. B and Corymbograptus v-fractus minor (Li). A detailed morphological study of these southern Chinese graptolite faunas suggests that Baltograptus wudingensis (Li) is a junior synonym of B. turgidus (Lee); Baltograptus kunmingensis (Ni) is a junior synonym of B. varicosus (Wang); and Baltograptus triangulatus (Ni) is a junior synonym of B. yunnanensis (Li). The B. varicosus Biozone is newly recognized within the middle part of the Hungshihyen Formation, replacing the former Didymograptus deflexus Biozone. This interval is well correlated to the Baltograptus jacksoni Biozone in Britain, the Tetragraptus akzharensis, ‘Baltograptus cf. deflexus’ and Didymograptus bifidus (lower part) biozones in NW Argentina (eastern Cordillera), and the Acrograptus filiformis and Didymograptellus eobifidus biozones in northern Guizhou, South China. Accordingly, the interval is of mid-Floian age, rather than late Floian as previously proposed.     

Palynology of the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in the Rajmahal Formation,West Bengal,India

Borehole PGD-1A penetrated Cretaceous Rajmahal Formation and underlying Triassic Panchet Formation between 288–423.51 m. Palynoassemblages recovered within the Mesozoic sequence are assigned to three palynozones closely comparable to Australian assemblages. The oldest palynozone is the Verrucosisporites-Lundbladispora zone, which occurs between 373.5–376 m in the uppermost Panchet Formation. The first occurrence of Callialasporites turbatus occurs at 373.5 m and signals the presence of Jurassic deposits. The overlying Infratrappean greyshales (371.5–354 m) of the Rajmahal Formation is represented by the Murospora florida palynozone of Late Jurassic age. The youngest palynozone identified is the Cicatricosisporites australiensis zone which occurs within the Inter-trappeans (346.35–295.0 m) of the Rajmahal Formation. Based on ages assigned to the M. florida and C. australiensis zones in Australia, the Rajmahal Formation is dated as Oxfordian-Berriasian. The first appearance datums (FADs) of Cicatricosisporites australiensis, Crybelosporites stylolsus, Aequitriradites spinulosus and Lycopodiacidites dettmannae suggest that the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary probably lies just within the interval 346.35–328.81 m in Inter-trappean bed II.     

A new Changhsingian (Late Permian) Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) fauna from the Zhongzhai section,southwestern Guizhou Province,South China

Zhang, Y., He, W.-H., Shi, G.R. & Zhang, K.-X., 2013. A new Changhsingian (Late Permian) Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) fauna from the Zhongzhai section, southwestern Guizhou Province, South China. Alcheringa 37, 221–245. ISSN 0311-5518.

This paper describes 20 species (including three undetermined species) of Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) in an upper offshore fauna from the Permian–Triassic Boundary Zhongzhai section, southwestern Guizhou Province, South China. New taxa are Tethyochonetes sheni, Tethyochonetes cheni, Neochonetes (Huangichonetes) archboldi, Neochonetes (Sommeriella) waterhousei, Neochonetes (Sommeriella) rectangularis and Neochonetes semicircularis.

Yang Zhang [zyan@deakin.edu.au] and G.R. Shi [guang.shi@deakin.edu.au] (corresponding author), School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia; Weihong He [whzhang@cug.edu.cn] (corresponding author) and Kexin Zhang [kx_zhang@cug.edu.cn], State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan, Wuhan 430074, PR China. Received 8.6.2012; revised 19.9.2012; accepted 7.10.2012.     

Late Ordovician cephalopods,tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderms from Kuh-e Faraghan,High Zagros,Iran

Ghavidel-Syooki, M., Evans, D.H., Ghobadi Pour, M., Popov, L.E., Álvaro, J.J., Rakhmonov, U., Klishevich, I.A. & Ehsani, M.D., 15.5.2015. Late Ordovician cephalopods, tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderm columnals from Kuh-e Faraghun, High Zagros, Iran. Alcheringa 39, 530–549. ISSN 0311-5518.

Late Ordovician (Katian, uppermost Acanthochitina barbata to Armoricochitina nigerica chitinozoan zones) cephalopods, tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderms are documented for the first time from the southern Zagros Ranges. A low-diversity cephalopod fauna includes Geisonocerina dargazense sp. nov., Isorthoceras sp. cf. I. bisignatum (Barrande) and other undetermined orthoceratides. The presence of Late Ordovician tentaculitides in the high- to mid-latitude margins of Gondwana has been documented previously, but no examples have been described in detail. Thus, Costatulites kimi sp. nov., which currently occurs associated with brachiopods characteristic of the Svobodaina havliceki (brachiopod) Association, represents the earliest undoubted record of tentaculitides in Gondwana. Machaeridians constitute a relatively common component of the Late Ordovician benthic faunas from the Mediterranean margin of Gondwana, but no previous records on the Gondwanan Iranian-Arabian segment have been reported. Three echinoderm taxa based on dissociated columnals are documented from the Armoricochitina nigerica chitinozoan Zone, including Sumsaricystis radiatus Stukalina, Ristnacrinus sp. and Rosulicrinus rosulus Stukalina.

Mohammad Ghavidel-Syooki [m_ghavidelsyooki@yahoo.com] Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Technical Faculty of Tehran University, PO Box 11365-4563, Tehran, Iran; David H. Evans [david.evans@naturalengland.org.uk], Natural England, Suite D, Unex House, Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough PE1 1NG, UK; Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour* [mghobadipour@yahoo.co.uk], Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran; Leonid E. Popov [leonid.popov@museumwales.ac.uk], Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK; J. Javier Álvaro [jj.alvaro@csic.es], Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), c/ José Antonio Novais 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Utkyr Rakhmonov, Kitab State Geological Reserve, 9 Ipak Yuli Street, Sakhrisabz, Uzbekistan; Inna A. Klishevich, Department of Historical Geology, Geological Faculty, St Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya 7/9, 199034 St Petersburg, Russia [inna@IK4848.spb.edu]; Mohammad H. Ehsani [mh_ehsani@hotmail.com], Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Technical Faculty of Tehran University, PO Box 11365-4563, Tehran, Iran. *Also affiliated with Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK.     

Viking age wood resources at Argisbrekka,Faroe Islands

A project is described concerning the examination of wood from two settlements on Eysturoy. Argisbrekka is a seasonally occupied inland settlement radiocarbon‐dated to the 9th–11th centuries, while Toftanes is a year‐round coastal settlement from the 9th–10th centuries. Preliminary investigations of wood from houses and refuse layers at Argisbrekka demonstrate the utilization of three resources: (a) local vegetation of Juniperus, tree Betula and heathland dwarf shrubs, (b) driftwood Picea and Larix, (c) imported wood Pinus and Quercus. The impact of man and husbandry on the vegetation probably resulted in the extinction of tree Betula and the almost total disappearance of Juniperus.